After wide internal pressure, the Spanish government has unilaterally scrapped a contract with an Israeli firm to purchase ammunition rounds for its police force, according to Reuters.
In October 2023, Spain decided to stop selling any weapons to the Israeli occupation because of its bloody war in Gaza.
Moreover, the government pledged to stop purchasing any ammunition from Israel in 2024 due to its ongoing genocide in Gaza.
However, the Spanish government inserted paperwork confirming the deal on the government tenders website on April 17.
According to the contract, Spain will acquire more than 15 million 9-mm rounds from Israel’s IMI Systems, owned by Elbit Systems (ESLT.TA), in exchange of 6.6 million euros ($7.53 million).
The deal has sparked a sharp criticism from coalition partner Sumar, with Izquierda Unida threatening to withdraw from the minority coalition government.
As a response, the Spanish Interior Ministry stated that it was urged by the State Attorney that breaking the deal would mean the payment of the full amount without receiving the shipment.
Then, a government source announced that it decided to abide by its commitment, made in October 2023, not to sell any arms to Israeli companies “and nor will it do so in future”.
Furthermore, the source unveiled that Spain would not give any permission to the Israeli company to import the weapons on “public interest” grounds.
Accordingly, the Interior Ministry would cancel the contract and government lawyers would handle any subsequent legal claims.
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